Agencies Warned on “Midnight Regulations”

Federal agencies have been put on notice to wrap up their priority rulemakings by the summer, according to reports in The Hill on a memo from Howard Shelanski, the administrator of the White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA).

In the memo Shelanski reportedly urges agencies to adhere to the dates established in the fall 2015 regulatory agenda, so as to avoid “midnight regulations” right before the President leaves office, and to notify OIRA if deadline extensions are necessary.

“To the extent feasible and consistent with your priorities, statutory obligations and judicial deadlines, however, agencies should strive to complete their highest priority rulemakings by summer 2016 to avail and end-of-year scramble that has the potential to lower the quality of regulations that OIRA receives for review and to tax the resources available for interagency review,” the letter said.